Recycle your old makeup – DIY lip balm

If you call me a hoarder, I won’t be offended. I am not the documentary worthy type of hoarder though, I don’t have piles of newspapers taking over my bed to the point I need to sleep on the sofa, but I’m definitely resistant about throwing certain things away.

I have a big makeup carrier, full of little pull out compartments, and my biggest collection is of lipsticks. I love the idea of being glammed up with a nice lipstick, but as a nurse the opportunity to wear my dark berry lipstick don’t come too often.
But this doesn’t stop me from impulse buying makeup. I have been accumulating blushers, lipsticks, eyeshadows and foundations since my university days. Some items are used on a daily basis whilst others are only for special occasions. And there is also the “regret” makeup category, cue my super pink L’Oréal blusher. So why not upcycle it into something I will wear everyday?

The results are very close to Burt’s Bees balms. I added a little of bit of a pink lipstick to the mix as well, the blusher gives a lovely shimmer and the lipstick intensified the colour. But you can play with shimmery eyeshadows and essential oils too. I divided the batch and to the second one I added cinnamon to get the blood vessels tingling for plump lips.

Don’t be scared if you look at the ingredient list and find it that they are too specific, they can all be found on Amazon!

1. Place the cocoa butter, beeswax and coconut oil in a heatproof glass jar and melt the ingredients over a pan of simmering water, careful not to let any water into the mixture.

2. Once they are melted together divide the mixture and add the the crushed blusher and lipstick to one and cinnamon to the other

3. Pour the mixture into prepared lip balm containers, it’s better to use a pipette or a syringe. This needs to be done quickly whilst mixture is warm. It is also important to give the mixture a stir every time you pour it into the container, otherwise the pigments all fall to the bottom

4. Let the mixture cool for at least 2 hours, allowing it to set completely

If you live in a cold place and like your lip balm a bit “gooey” you can add 1 1/2 tsp of olive oil to step 1.